Tokyo Disneyland recently announced that “Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters” will officially close in October, making way for a revamped version of the ride set in the world of Wreck-It Ralph!

Astro Blasters, being the Tokyo version of the popular Space Ranger Spin, is a fan-favorite and we can expect to hear more displeasure from Toy Story fans before turning their displeasure to excitement for the new attraction.

Disney fans may remember that Hong Kong Disneyland, in 2017, made a similar move by re-theming Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle.

Stay tuned as we wait for details about the Wreck-It Ralph ride!

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In Disneyland Paris, which is undergoing a massive transformation, is ending their partnership with credit card giant, MasterCard. The split is expected to impact many aspects of the guest experience, but mainly a special perk for guests to make certain reservations in the park by flashing their MasterCard.

As part of the physical and financial transformation of Disneyland Paris, it has also been announced that the second theme park, the Hollywood Studios-inspired Walt Disney Studios Park, is being rethemed as Disney Adventure World.

As expected with any changes at Disney, some fans are voicing their disappointment and petitioning to reverse the changes.

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In Germany’s Europa Park, the Mack Rides manufactured Voltron Nevera launch coaster has opened as the world’s steepest launch at 105 degrees. The coaster reaches a height of 107 feet and speeds up to 90 miles per hour. The coaster contains seven inversions, a dark ride section, and serves as the anchor attraction to the newly-opened Croatia area of the park.

Europa-Park is also celebrating the opening of the newest virtual coaster, Eurosat Coastiality - Phantom of the Opera. The mystery and intrigue of the gripping love story, coupled with the thrill of a rollercoaster, can be experienced up close. Set to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic musical, visitor’s attach their VR headset in a pre-show room before actually boarding the ride. The real, physical environment is recreated exactly in VR, which allows riders to board the train with no issues and allowing a seamless VR Phantom of the Opera experience while on the coaster.

The Phantom ride shares a track with Eurosat - CanCan Coaster, featuring a sliding track and separate loading areas.

INTRO:

Welcome to Trackless, the podcast where we strap in to the world of Dark Rides and more. I'm your host, Jay Pelham, and each week, I’ll bring you the latest news, innovations, and stories from the attractions industry with a focus on Dark Rides - from ride announcements, ride openings, ride closings and reimagining. And, before we get started, I humbly ask that you take a few seconds after listening to rate and review the podcast. And, I thank you in advance.

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As Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania begins to grow closer to the season opening of Dorney Park, the anticipation for Iron Menace grows, too. Dorney Park recently invited press for a preview of the new coaster and the reviews are solid. While the park doesn’t open to the public until May 10th, preview days are being held both weekends prior to the park opening. Those tickets, available at dorneypark.com, are available for select rides INCLUDING Iron Menace.

So, what makes this coaster so special? Well, start with the 95-degree drop from 152 ft. For those of you who can still remember basic geometry from math class, 90-degrees is straight down… so, 95-degrees is already getting extreme. Let’s not forget the 180-degree inversion, a zero-g-roll, and the world’s first tilted loop on a dive coaster.

Iron Menace tops out at 64 miles per hour, stretching 2,169 feet in length, and lasting a thrilling 90 seconds from start to finish. So, if you’re in the area, go say hi to Jessica Naderman and the Dorney Park team and be sure to let me know what you think of Iron Menace and other improvements being introduced this season.

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To the West, over in Pittsburgh, Kennywood has announced that their Steel Curtain coaster will be closed for the entire 2024 season. The statement on the Kennywood website, reads “To increase ride reliability and longevity, the Steel Curtain will undergo an extensive modification project this year. The park has worked with third-party engineers and the ride’s manufacturer to determine a long-term solution that will allow the ride to run without interruption. The coaster will be closed for the entirety of the season as we work on this project.”

The coaster, named the 2019 Best New Roller Coaster of the Year, will be certainly be missed by fans. However, Kennywood is touting improvements such as The Turtle, which has been completely restored. The Aero 360 will once again flip riders head-over-heels, and the park will introduce the rethemed Potato Smash Bumper Cars with 20 all-new vehicles and a lower height requirement.

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OUTRO:

Thanks for joining us on another adventure through the world of attractions on Trackless. I've been your host, Jay Pelham, and I hope you enjoyed today's episode and more great news from the attractions industry. If you want to stay up to date on all things dark rides and attractions, be sure to follow or subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app. Don’t forget, I would love it if you would rate and review the podcast when you’re done listening to this episode. And, until next week, Be Kind and Do Good.

While most parks and attractions are still opening for the season, Universal Orlando recently announced that Halloween Horror Nights will return earlier than ever this Fall, beginning August 30th and running for 48 nights through November 3rd. Featuring 10 haunted houses, 5 sinister scare zones, outrageous live entertainment and some of Universal Studios’ most exhilarating attractions, you can get your tickets now at universalorlando.com/hhn.

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Merlin Entertainments and Alterface just opened Daemonen Gruft, which translates as Demon Crypt, at Heide Park Resort in Germany. The compact dark ride offers guests an immersive plunge into a dangerous netherworld. The attraction is sited within “ancient catacombs discovered during excavations” last year amid whispers of dark secrets and rumors of people going missing. An anonymous video of a shadowy figure warned against attempting the “Katakomben Tour” and spoke of the Demon’s Crypt. Ominous warnings beg the question: is the Demon’s Crypt a new exciting experience not to be missed or a terrible trap?

It all began with the design by Merlin Entertainments Creative Lead, Liz Cummings, and her team. Then, in a truly international effort, other firms involved in the production are Belgium’ Oddities and 400 Coups provided art and media production, JP Show Systems from the UK handled show control and technical design, Preston & Barbieri from Italy provided the ride system, TAA Group in Spain provided theming, and US-based Andy Garfield at Pachinko Media managed audio production.

The story of the crypt, special effects, media, and—most importantly, terror—are packed into the Demon’s Crypt footprint. Eight cars, each carrying four adventurers through the seven scene, 3:30 minute ride, provide a maximum capacity of 480 passengers per hour. Special effects include scent, temperature, theatrical and SFX lighting, smoke, water spritz and CO2 sprays.

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Of course, there’s always news coming from Disney. The company is changing its disability access policies after seeing usage triple in the last five years. The program, meant to accommodate visitors with autism and other developmental disabilities has become the most widely-requested service at its parks.

Disney says that guests who don’t qualify for the Disability Access Service program may be advised to use other accommodations like the line-return option for those who need to visit the restroom frequently or wheelchair access and location return times for individuals using mobility devices.

If Disney determines that a guest has lied in the DAS screening process, the guest will be permanently barred from entering the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts, and any previously purchased tickets or passes will be forfeited and not refunded.

The new policies will take effect May 20th at Disney World and June 18th at Disneyland.

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In coaster news, Holiday World and Splashing’ Safari is teasing their new Good Gravy! Roller coaster with a recently released video of stuffed plush turkeys testing the ride. The coaster, manufactured by Vekoma, is a family boomerang opening on May 4th and 5th to pass holders and May 11th to the public..

Guests will board a train shaped like a giant gravy boat, which will be pulled backwards uphill before flying forwards through the station onto cranberry-colored track, hitting a maximum speed of 37 miles per hour. The train will fly through a giant cranberry jelly can before narrowly avoiding giant kitchen utensils, such as a 20-foot-tall whisk and an 18-foot-tall rolling pin before flying up a 77-foot-tall spike and repeating the journey backward.

This week we cover the opening of Cadbury World's new Cadbury Chocolate Quest trackless dark ride experience from ETF, then down to Disney World where Disney Imagineers are test riding Tiana's Bayou Adventure in preparation for a summer opening, and Minnesota's Valleyfair has announced the return of ValleyScare.

In this episode of Trackless, we cover the opening of Silver Dollar City's Fire in the Hole indoor family coaster, Tokyo Disney has upset fans with the announcement of a Marvel overlay to "It's a Small World", and Universal releases new details about the Epic Universe world "How to Train Your Dragon - Isle of Berk"

In this episode of Trackless, we cover the expanded investment plan for Holiday Park Germany which includes a new Smurfs themed dark ride, Cedar Point has resumed testing of the new Top Thrill 2 strata coaster in preparation for the park opening on May 4th, and Scream Break returns to Six Flags Magic Mountain.

In this second episode of Trackless, we cover the offseason happenings at Hersheypark, the $60 billion investment that Disney will make over the next decade, the tallest LEGO minifigure in the world, and a big congrats to InPark Magazine.

Welcome to the first episode of Trackless, bringing you the most recent news, innovations, and stories from the attractions industry with a focus on dark rides.

In this episode, we cover the opening of SpongeBob's Crazy Carnival Ride at Circus, Circus in Las Vegas, the Sally Dark Rides announcement that a Care Bears ride is in development, and the news from Trio-Tech about the Smash & Reload Maxi and the new VooDoo Festival theming.

Exciting news from the industry to start off the new year, and as we near many park openings for the 2024 season.